Game apparatus



n. w. OBRI'EN. GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICAHON FILED JUNE 5,1920. 1 ,370,14;8, 1 Patented Mar. 1, 1921;

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

J I I.ES3CQRESBYGININSQ m 1 D. W. OBRIEN.

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICAT ON FILED JUNE 5. 1920.

1,370,148. Patented Mar. 1, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

a mum,

UNITED STATES DANIEL O'BRIEN, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

GAME APPARATUS. I

\ Application filed June 5, 1920. Serial No. 386,696.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL W.. OBRIEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Game Apparatus, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings.

This invention relates to games, and particularly to games in which aboard is used having a spinner or arrow adapted to be spun by a player,the board being provided with a circular series of spaces, marks orother indications, and the game progressing in accordance with theposition of the arrow with relation to said marks, indications or spacesafter the arrow comes to rest.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a board so marked and,provided with such a spinner that a similitude of the game of baseballmay be played on one side of the board, while a similitude of the gameof football may be played upon the other side.

A further object is to provide a' baseball game in which the" spinner,when struck, moves over the series of spaces, these spaces being markedto indicate balls, strikes, outs, base hits, home runs, and thelikeincidents of baseball playing, and on which provision is made forcounting strikes, the number of players who are out, and the number ofballs delivered.

A further object is to provide a board for playing a similitude offootball and having a spinner which, when struck, will move around aseries of spaces concentric to the center of the s inner, these seriesof spaces being designe to indicate complete and incomplete plays, thegains or losses,

there being also a series of spaces concentric to the center of thespinner for indicating the. distance of punts, kick-offs, and the like,

the board being further laid out to represent a football field dividedby a transverse line into field spaces with g als at the opposite endsof the field, and the rules being such that the spinner will indicate byits stopping at a 'y particular space an event in the game of football.

Other objects will appear in the course of g I i no two of the samecharacter will come tov the following description.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. Mar. 1, 1921.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure1 is a'face view of one face of m ame board as arran ed for la in biiseba'll; g p y g Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the pointer used;

Fig. 3 is a perspective View of one of the .playing pieces;

Fig. 4 1s a fraggmentary cross sectional 7 is a perspective view of theyardthe diagrams, marks, indicia, etc., for playing a game of baseball,and the other side of the oard. being provided with diagrams, marks,indicia, etc, for playing 'a game of football. That side of the board X,which I"- have marked A and which is designed for playing baseball, isprovided with a circular series of spaces. These spaces 10 may be of thesame extent or certain spaces may be shorter or longer than certainother.

spaces. I have indicated these spaces as all being of the same extent,and I have shown. 32 of thesespaces. Of these 32 spaces, I

have shown 8 of these spaces as marked with the word-Out, 6 of thesespaces as marked with the word Strike, 8 of these spaces are marked withthe word Ball, 6 of these spaces as marked with. the words Base hit, and2 of the spaces as marked with the words Home run. Of the .6 spacesmarked Base hit, 2 of the spaces are marked 1base hit,"2 of thespacesare marked 2 base hit and 2 of the spaces are marked 3 base hit. I Theseveral out strike, ball,base hit, and home run spaces may be arrangedin any suitable order, but I have so arranged them that tan ether. Thus,for instance, one of the 2 ase hit spaces is diametrically opposite oneof the 3 base hit spaces and the other 3 base hit space is diametricallyopposite a 1 base hit space, so that the spaces will read, for example,consecutively, Base hit, Strike, Out, Ball, Base hit, etc.

Within the circle of spaces 10 are dis posed indications of the homeplate and the first, second and third bases arranged as usual on abaseball diamond. Four pieces 11 are provided as markers and representmen, and aredis osed on the base squares 12 or at the'home late 13 asthe game progresses. A spinner is provided in the form of an arrow 14,which is preferably provided with a central hub whereby it may be raisedoff the board slightly and provided with a central pin 15 passingthrough the center of the board. At the upper portion of the board areprovided spaces 16 for keeping the score throughout the 10 or 11 inningsthrough which the game may run, and score markers having suitablenumbers, indicating runs on them, are to be placed in these squares, orthe score may be written within these squares.

On the corners of the two sections of the board are raised portions 17to prevent the face of the board from being marked or rubbed. For thepurpose of indicating the number of balls pitched, the board is markedoff with a square 18 having thereon the word Balls 1, 2, 3, 4 and anarrow 19 is pivoted upon the board so as to be shifted to any one ofthese numbers. A like square 20 is marked on the board having thereinthe word Strikes with the numbers 1, 2, 3, and an arrow 21. is used toscore these strikes. Between the squares 18 and 20 there is a reclarspace 22 marked with the word Out and the numerals 1, 2, 3, and an arrow23 coacts with these numerals so as to indicate the number of men out.

The game is played by two persons, each one representing a team. Thegame is played by the same rules as a game of baseball, except that thearrow or indicator 14 is spun instead of the-re being actual batting. Tostart the game, one of the players spins the arrow, and where it stopson one of the spaces 10 indicates the play. For example, if the arrowstops on Strike, it means that one strike is tobe counted and marked inthe strike space 20, and so on. Ifon the next turn or spin of the arrow14, it stops on the words 2 base hit, one of the markers 11 is p1aced onthe second base, that is the space 12 indicating second base, and thelittle arrow 20 is turned back from Strike on the marker. The sameperson spins the arrow each time until three outs have been countedagainst him in the space 22 and then the other team, represented by theother player, takes its turn, and so on until each if thearrow stops onthe dividing line between the different plays, it is a foul ball. Thefirst two fouls are to be considered strikes.

On the face B of the board there is shown a representation of a footballfield. To this end, the actual field of play is marked off bylongitudinally extending, parallel lines 24 and a goal 25 is marked offat each end of the field. The field is divided by transverse lines 26 atevery five yards and the side lines 24 have fractional indications 27,each of these indications indicating a yard. The middle line 28 of thefield is 50 yards from each goal, and each of the five'yard lines fromthis middle line toward the goal is designated by its proper number, asby 45, 40, 35, etc. On the 50-yard line there is formed the recess a forthe stub or spindle of the arrow'before referred to, and concentric tothis center there is described a circular series of spaces 29. Thesespaces are shown as of equal length, and I (have illustrated the boardas being divided into 24 spaces concentric to .the center. These spacesare marked with words or indicia indicating gains or losses in yards.Thus, for instance, one of the spaces will have thereon the words 4yards loss, the next 2 yards gain, the next 10 yards loss, the next 5yards gain, etc. Three adjacent spaces 29 will be marked with the wordIncomplete and each set of spaces 29 marked Incomplete are separatedfrom the like spaces by a space marked Complete. The word Complete isapplied only to those spaces where at least 10 yards are indicated as again, the rules of the game of football requi'ring that a player mustgain 10 yards in four downs or lose the ball. Therefore, if the pointerstops on any of those spaces designated Complete, the player has gainedat least 10 yards so that there is no question of the gain having beenmade in four. downs, that is there is no question of loss of the ball.The spaces 29 are separated from each other by radial lines '30, whichalso play a part in the game, as will appear later.

Extending from one of these radial lines to another of these radiallines are a plurality of chordal lines 31 which are of equal length.There are 8 of these lines 31 and the spaces defined by these lines havetheir numerals and words indicating the distance traversed by a ball onkick-offs and punts.

'Thus, for instance, two of these lines 31 ciated with each of thespaces 29 are'relatively short, distinctive, circumferentially extendinglines designated 32. These are for drop kicks, and in pla ing the gameare to be considered with the line 31, with which an% particular line 32is associated.

n one corner of the board a space 33 is left for the numerals 1, 2, 3, 4and the word Downs, and an arrow 34 is mounted at this place so that itmay be moved to indicate. any one of the numerals. There are two ofthese spaces 33 and two of the arrows 34 disposed at diagonally oppositeportions of the board for the two players. A playing piece 35 is used inthe form of a football having an indicating point 36 at one end forconvenience in disposing the ball on the proper line, and also used inconnection with the game is a yard stick or measure 37 divlded bygraduations into yard lengths.

The game is played by two persons and may be played in quarters orhalves, as desired. he players are supposed to be the captains of therival teams and each must name his play before the arrow 14 is spun. Theplayer can use straight football, forward passes, punts, or if nearenough can try for a field goal. Each of the spaces 29 is markedofi forstraight football and forward passes. The8 lines 31 are marked forkick-offs and punts, and if the indicator stops on one of the lines 30separating the spaces when kicking, the kick is supposed to be blockedand the player loses the ball. The lines 32 which are associated witheach space 29 are used when drop kicks are made or when kicking goalafter touch downs. Each player has to gain 10 yards in four downs orlose the ball.

In order to start to play, the placed on one of "the 45-yard lines andis supposed to be moved toward the adversarys goal. The arrow 14 is thenspun, and if the arrow stops, for instance, on the line 31 marked 940yards, the ball is supposed to have been kicked 40 .yards and, of

course, gone into the hands of the other la er. Therefore the otherplayer laces t he b'all 35 on bi owii 15-yard .line He then spins thearrow, previously stating his play, and has four downs (that is fourspins of the arrow) in order to make 10 yards. If a player finds himselftoo near his own goal, he can kick or punt'out of danger on the firstdown. A touch-down is made by playing the ball over the opponents goalline and counts 6 points, after which the player spins the arrow againand if it stops on one, of the heavy lines 32, it counts 1 more point.'A drop kick is made by sp1nningthe arrow and having itstop on one.

ball 35 is the centerv of either 'face of the board having game scoringhave to stop in a 40 or 50-yard space andalso on the line 32 inorder tomake this drop kick count. If the arrow should stop onthe 20 or 30-ya rdline, assuming that the player is kicking from a 35-yard line, the

opponent will start the'ball from there.

In this game, a touch down counts 6 points, a goal-after a touch down 1point, a drop kick or field kick 3 points, and a touch back counts 2points. If the arrow stops on one of the radial linesv 30, the player ispenalized 5 to 15 yards, as may be decided on. A touch back is made by aplayer losing enough yards to put him back over hisv owngoal line andcounts two points for the opponent. If a punted ball goes over the goalline, it is tobe brought out to the 20 same is true of the spinningarrow 14 which is designed to be used {with one or the other of the twoboards.

While I have stated and illustrated a particular arrangement of spacesand particular marking of the spaces in both ofthese games, it willbeunderstood that the particular arrangement of the spaces and themarking of spaces might be varied in many ways without departing fromthe sp1r1t of the invention.

The yard stick shown in Fig. 7 is merely for convenience in measuringthe losses or gains made by the ball 35, this ball being provided with apointer 36 at one end whereby its position may be. accurately 1ndicated.

1. A game apparatus comprlslng a game of the board and divided by linesinto spaces extending-in a circle around the board hav-.- ing indiciaindicating dlflt'erent game values,

and a spinner pointer rotatably engageable with the center ofeither faceof the board.

2. A game apparatus comprlsmg a game board having on the opposite facesthereof a portion concentric to the center of the board and divided bylines intospaces extending in a. circular'series around the center ofthe board, the spaces having indicia therein indicating different gamevalues, and a spinner pointer rotatably engageable with face of theboard, each spaces provided with indicia thereon, and pointers rotatablyengaging with elther face of the board and coacting with the scoringspaces.

3. A game apparatus comprising a board having thereon the representationof a football field, the field being defined by parallel, longitudinallyextending lines, these lnes being graduated from the middle of the fieldin opposite directions to indicate yard lines and the spaces betweensaid lines being traversed by transverse yard lines, the board having'upon its face a circular series of spaces concentric to the center ofthe board and divided from each other by radial lines, said spaceshaving therein indicia designating various football plays, a spinningpointer engageable with the center of theboardand when spun moving oversaid circular series of spaces, and a playing piece movable, over saidfield in accordance with the indications of said pointer.

4:. A game apparatus comprising a board having thereon therepresentation of a football field, the field being defined by parallel, longitudinally extending lines, these lines being graduated fromthe middle oi: the field in opposite directions to indicate yard linesand the spaces between said lines being traversed by transverse yardlines, the board having upon its face a circular series of spacesconcentric to the center of the board and divided from each other byradial lines, said spaces having therein indicia designating yardsgained or lost, there being a second series of spaces disposedapproximately concentric to the center of the board and having thereinindicia indicating yards secured in kicking or punting the ball, aspinning pointer engageable with the center of the board and when spunmoving oversaid circular series of spaces, and

a playing piece movable over said field in accordance with theindications of said pointer. I

5. A game apparatus comprising a board having thereon the representationof a football field, the field 'being defined by parallel,longitudinally extending lines, these lines being graduated from themiddle of the field in opposite directions to indicate yard lines andthe spaces between said lin being traversed by transverse yard lines,the board having upon its face a circular series of spaces concentric tothe center of the board .and divided from each other by radial lines,the first named spaces having adjacent thereto at the middle of eachspace- DANIEL W. OBRIEN.

